Normal
by Tiro
Summary: Is this what you could call a normal life? A day in the life of Sanzo-ikkou. Post-journey, non-yaoi.


**Normal**

**Summary**: Is this what you could call a normal life? A day in the life of Sanzo-ikkou. Post-journey, non-yaoi.

**Pairing/s**: None.

**Warnings**: Not much, past mention of gory details.

**Disclaimers**: Nope, don't own Saiyuki.

-

Hakkai carefully opened the door with an elbow and backed into the room, his hands holding a tray with a bowl of lukewarm beef broth and a glass of chilled water on it. He put it down gently on the nightstand and looked over at the bed.

Gojyo was finally getting some peaceful rest it seemed and Hakkai placed a hand on his friend's forehead. The fever had broken, good. The redheaded man was still a bit flushed but definitely better than last night.

"'Kai?"

"Did I wake you, Gojyo?"

"No, not really," the hanyou mumbled, moving under the covers. Red eyes blinked sleepily at him and Gojyo continued, "I smell something good."

"Only broth for now," Hakkai said and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You think you can sit up?"

Gojyo slowly did so, rubbing his tousled hair and accepting the bowl and spoon that was handed to him by Hakkai.

"Did Sanzo and Goku leave?"

"No, they are in the guest room. Guess the storm was a bit too hard for them."

"Che… Sanzo's excuse is he wants Goku to raid our kitchen… _again_."

Hakkai laughed at that.

"Even so, they are still here and still asleep I suppose."

"I thought for sure the smell of food would wake Goku up," Gojyo said.

"I was doing my best to conceal it," the brunette said and tilted his head. He watched his friend drink the broth with a small smile.

It had been almost a year now since they had finished their journey, resulting in the defeat of Gyumaoh along with Gyokumen and a few more scars for them all. Sanzo now had his second Kyoumon, the Seiten Kyoumon, and had avenged his master's death. Their last fight had not been against Kougaiji but rather Kougaiji and his group had been fighting with them against Gyumaoh and Gyokumen.

The aftermath had been gory. Hakkai had ended up with Dokugakuji and both had been for the most part unharmed, safe for a few deeper wounds that might require bandages. Immediately, they had searched for the others.

The hardest one for Hakkai to find was Gojyo. The redhead had been half-buried under rocks, most of his lower half crushed. For a moment, the turned demon had been convinced Gojyo would die, by the sounds of his gasps for breath, the pain clear in his eyes. Then the healer in him had smacked him over the head and told him to help the hanyou.

And so he had. With Lirin's help, her only wound being a deep gash on her leg that she stubbornly ignored, he had gotten the rocks away from Gojyo. After that he had started to heal the worst. Dokugakuji had seen his brother's half-mangled form, the blood trickling out from his gasping mouth, and for the first time Hakkai had seen him show something for Gojyo that really marked them out as brothers. The demon had ignored the healer as he spoke softly to Gojyo, encouraging him to keep on breathing, keep on fighting. For some reason, Hakkai had felt that Dokugakuji had uttered those words before to Gojyo, that he before had seen the hanyou on the brink of death.

Hakkai pushed these thoughts away, focused on the present where Gojyo was just finishing up the broth. Once that was done, he placed it on the tray again and without assistance got the glass of water.

"What time is it?" the redhead asked.

"It's around nine," Hakkai said.

"The storm is still raging?"

"More or less. No going out today."

Gojyo shivered and wriggled himself down again under the covers after putting the glass, empty of water, down on the tray again.

"When was Kougaiji and the others going to come?" the brunette asked.

"Not until Saturday at the very least," Gojyo said. "Hope the storm is over by then."

"I wouldn't mind having the snow still here though. Lirin-san might enjoy it. They can't have much snow in Hautou castle."

After the death of both Gyumaoh and Gyokumen Kougaiji had shouldered the responsibility to change things back to the way it had been, to make humans stop fearing demons and to stop demons from hurting humans. It was a huge responsibility and the Sanzo-ikkou had agreed to help whenever he wanted help. Now though, it was purely a visit to relax a bit from the duties, to allow Kougaiji a chance to breathe out.

And Gojyo's and Hakkai's house was perfect. Not long after coming back the two had reached an agreement of a bigger house, and had bought one that was rather high up in a mountain but not too far from the temple where Sanzo and Goku lived. The house was bigger, allowing them two guestrooms as well as two bedrooms and a big garden for Hakkai in the summers.

Sanzo had called them strange when visiting for the first time. Even after a chance to have an own bedroom, the two had simply bought a double sized bed and shared a bedroom. For others it must appear strange for two grown men to share a bedroom, hell share a bed, but Gojyo and Hakkai, having lived so for almost three years before the journey saw nothing wrong with it. Hakkai knew Gojyo enjoyed a presence close to him when he slept, allowing him to relax with the knowledge he was not alone.

And Hakkai… he had simply grown to enjoy the feeling of the hanyou's presence in the room. Whenever he could not sleep, he would watch Gojyo, see his best friend when he was most relaxed, almost boneless where he slept. It was a comforting thing, being able to see the man's relaxed face, as it calmed Hakkai down. Sometimes neither of them could sleep, and they would talk until dawn and sleep well into the day.

Nowadays, Sanzo did not react on their habits but merely accepted them. It was not like he had any other choice. He once called them 'husband and wife', and it had triggered a sort of distant memory for both, yet they were unable to grasp it. For a moment though, Hakkai thought Gojyo's eyes had been blue.

"Oi, I think I hear the monkey is up," Gojyo said, breaking Hakkai from his thoughts.

"How do you know it's Goku?"

"Sanzo don't do the mantra 'I'm hungry'," the hanyou pointed out.

"Aah, it appears you are right. Rest some more; you are still not fully healthy."

Gojyo had caught a cold a few days prior and it quickly had given way to a high fever. For a while Hakkai had felt his heart hammering in his chest as Gojyo had been delirious, but Goku and Sanzo had been there at the time, Goku successfully pinning Gojyo down and keeping him in the bed. After having ridden on this high fever for a whole night, it seemed like the redhead was almost back to normal.

But for now Gojyo's red eyes closed as he relaxed into the bed and Hakkai looked at the sleeping man once more before getting back to the kitchen where Goku was seated.

"Good morning," the boy mumbled.

"Good morning, Goku. Is Sanzo up yet?"

"He's been up for like super-long and everythin'," Goku said, rubbing his eyes. "He wanted coffee."

"Yes, yes."

It did not take long for the priest to join them, get his coffee and then hide behind his newspaper. Hakkai and Goku, both used to it, barely noticed and was still talking, Sanzo adding his opinions from now and then (yes- and no-grunts).

"Gojyo!"

Hakkai looked up as Gojyo joined them, sitting down and yawning.

"Did we wake you up?" he asked, a bit worried. The man's fever had broken just a few hours ago, so he should be resting.

"Can't have any peace and quiet when the monkey's up."

"Don't call me that, you pervert kappa!"

"Now, now, calm down," Hakkai said. "Gojyo, you really shouldn't be up."

"Aah, couldn't sleep so I figured I might as well join you for a bit," Gojyo said, hitching up one of his legs and wrapping an arm around it. He was still so thin, the brunette sadly noted. After the battle, even though Gojyo had been fully healed he had lost a lot of weight and simply could not fight like he used to. Even today he could have trouble.

Goku looked at him for a bit.

"What are you looking at, monkey?" Gojyo asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Don't call me that," the boy muttered. "Your hair's weird."

Gojyo flattened it down a bit as he said:

"I can't help it; I've been in bed for the last few days and haven't had a proper shower!"

"Well then, maybe after breakfast you should go and have one then?" the turned demon said as he put down some more food. "It would do you some good."

-

Gojyo sat down on the toilet and rubbed his hair free from water. He was really weak right now; he could barely move his arms, they were so heavy. He hated colds, and hitched some jeans on and wrestling his way into a shirt before coming out from the steaming bathroom.

"Didja use up all hot water or what?" Goku asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"'Cause it's foggy an' all," Goku said.

"Don't worry about the hot water," Hakkai said. "We still got plentiful of it. Now Goku, I made these cookies a few days ago but since Gojyo got sick I haven't given them a thought. Would you like to taste one?"

"Hakkai's cookies, yeah I wanna taste, they're real good! Sanzo, do you want one?"

"…"

"It wouldn't hurt eating one," Hakkai said, tilting his head.

"Che," Sanzo said. "Not now, monkey."

"I'm not a monkey!"

The priest ignored the call, too used to it to even react and tried to light his cigarette. The lighter was dead and suddenly another one was shoved under the cigarette, lighting it. Sanzo looked up and Gojyo flipped the lighter shut.

"My treat," the hanyou said as he walked to the bedroom. The priest took a long drag and slowly released the smoke.

"…"

He dove back to the newspaper.

-

Hakkai looked at Gojyo who took a bite from a cookie before turning page in the newspaper. Goku had eaten almost all of the cookies until Sanzo's famous fan made its appearance and gave the boy a healthy bruise, the priest muttering something about 'letting other people taste it as well' to which Goku had managed to make him eat one and Gojyo had snatched three from the plate, stuffing the first one in without problems and directing a grin to the green-eyed man.

They were all seated in the kitchen around the table, all busy with their own thing. Hakkai grasped the cup of tea he held in his hands tighter, and felt, not for the first time, that this was the version of 'normal' he had always wanted.

End

* * *

Just a short drabble.

Hope you liked it, I had forgotten I had it ^^ so it's been lying around for a while.

Until another time,

Ja,

Tiro


End file.
